


MEAT

by nightfall_in_winter



Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017) RPF, Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Gore, Justice, M/M, True Love, murder investigation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 23:14:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20629115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightfall_in_winter/pseuds/nightfall_in_winter
Summary: Well, don't take things for granted, folks!





	MEAT

“Sorry, Detective Hammer. Two more…”

Armie had a déjà vu moment when Linda’s old-fashioned hairdo entered the room. He knew exactly what would happen: she would hold the door of his office ajar for a few seconds while clutching a brick-coloured folder before stepping in and dumping the case files on his desk. There will be an obligatory shoulder shrug and a look of sympathy on her face, before she disappears after hearing a laconic “Thanks” and her heels echo down the hallway.

_Two more. Jesus! _

Armie stretched his legs and let out a long-held breath. He opened the first folder and took some mental notes. 27-year old, male, 6ft 2 in, British Causcasian, art dealer, disappeared on his way to a fishing trip on his parents’ yacht. A rich toff who went to a posh university, but his grades were so poor he couldn’t forge a career and he continued to spend Mum and Dad’ s money instead, Armie gathered with a sour face. The second file announced the disappearance of a 41-year old female, Mixed ethnic background, a TV personality and reality star. What on earth is a TV personality anyway? A personality that you put on just for the cameras, I guess. Glitter - check. Fake smile - check. Sparkly veneers – check. Ouch, that facelift looks painful!

_Stop it, Hammer! You are becoming judgemental and cynical. Just focus, that’s all. _

His traditional evening walks by the river after work were becoming less and less enjoyable lately. In the past, they helped him to clear his mind and see things objectively but now they were just a further attestation to his inability to solve the enormous riddle that was gripping the city in the last 4 months. The lazy waters of the river emitted a musty, earthy odour as he dragged his feet along the promenade before he sat on a bench and picked mindlessly at the old raised paint by his knee. Over 40 people now, from all walks of life, young and old, poor and rich, famous and unknown. Gone without a trace. Renowned scientist. Rich banker. TV football pundit. Rough sleeper. Motivational speaker. Beautician. Priest. Teacher. Retired ballet dancer. Painter. Tennis coach…They didn’t share hobbies or interests. Most were socially adept, but there was the occasional recluse. Regular taxpayers, except for the few who were either too wealthy or too poor to care about categorisations. They didn’t know each other. In fact, they were all so different, one couldn’t even begin to put the pieces together. Over 40 people who just disappeared into thin air. None of this makes sense.

_Think harder, Hammer! _

******* **

“Hi darling!” Timmy, his beloved spouse greeted him on the doorstep and the detective melted into his smile. _Angel_!, Armie nuzzled his collarbone and felt his glossy dark curls under his nose. The divine smell of Italian Osso buco filled the air. “No cinnamon, extra garlic in your gremolata. Just the way you like it.” Timmy announced with a huge grin and pulled his shirt as he was hugging him tight. _Three years of the purest happiness imaginable_, Armie thought to himself as he sat down and tried to unwind with a glass of Barolo. _What have I done to deserve him? He is always so caring, enthusiastic, tender, considerate. How can he remember to get my favourite cypress and tobacco bath salts every time? To record my favourite shows? To make his trademark baked cheesecake with an extra spoon of sour cream and add lemon zest on top just for me and my penchant for stronger flavours? To sort out the messy desk in my home office and put things in neat piles for me? To leave sticky “I already miss you” notes in my work briefcase or on in my sunglasses pouch? To press my shirts with sandalwood ironing water and prune my favourite white roses in our garden to perfection? He talks, he listens, he always offers support. In his presence, I am this inferior human being who can’t cope with life pressure and needs his optimism and attentiveness to live. I swear to God, he deserves the world. One day, when all of this is over, I’ll take him far away from here, somewhere under the tropical sun and I will spoil him rotten…_

Armie’s trail of thought was disrupted by the faces of the missing people and the media panic, so he closed his eyes and sighed…

“I am not that hungry, my love…Sorry.” he said with a low voice, just as Timmy got closer and started massaging his shoulders with his small, delicate hands.

“Hard day again?” He purred gently and placed a kiss on Armie’s neck.

A light sadness and a feeling of disappointment, both barely distinguishable, haunted his steps as he cleared the plates with the untouched food on them.

“Yes, hard day…”

******** **

Armie’s knuckles were drumming on the desk as he opened another folder. It seemed this wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. 35-year old male, Caribbean, 5 ft 10 in, notable scar on his left temple. Car mechanic. Nose piercing, dimpled chin. Two daughters by two women. Church goer. Appeared on a music show with a gospel choir two years ago. Children live in another state. No debts, card overdrawn by 56 dollars only. The detective realised he was registering some random facts in a desperate search of a pattern or clue. Anything. His mind craved some traces of logic or a tiny speck of hope that something might point him in the right direction. Nothing. Zilch. He clenched his jaw and realised he couldn’t even be cynical anymore. All that he could feel was the anger in his chief’s voice and the fear that was crippling the whole city. The autumn, beautiful and oblivious to human concerns, was painting the trees in pretty shades of orange and yellow. But the cold air that filled the detective’s lungs on his walk home tasted more like poison every day.

********* **

“Darling, you are home…” The joy in Timmy’s voice was evident. His arms around his partner were just as willowy and comforting as ever. The love in the green eyes was boundless._ He is in a playful mood tonight_, Armie thought and stepped back to look at him. _Plush lips with the taste of Burt’s bees tinted balm in Hibiscus. Finest porcelain skin with the sin bubbling so close to its surface before being extinguished in an innocent blush and re-ignited again. The smell of his strawberry mask in his hair and these sexy champagne silk stockings that fit like second skin to his impossibly long legs…His waist is so narrow, God help me, he looks almost breakable when he wears his special stilettos that makes him as tall as me…He is so keen to please me. The sweet curve of his naked bottom up in the air is gorgeous as he bends over to take my shoes off and his voice is hot caramel as he begs sweetly: I want a tripple R, please. Give it to me, Armie! Tripple R is our secret abbreviation for Rim Rub Roll, his special quick treat that he gets in the hallway when he looks like this and when he is really impatient. He loves when I rub a wet finger over his small pink starfish, before I kneel and Iet him sit on my face…So sexy!_

Armie closed his eyes and kneeled but then somewhat absent-mindedly put a chaste kiss on his coccyx and bit the perfect globes of Timmy’s bottom. Then he stood up and lifted Timmy up and carried him into the kitchen. As he placed him on the granite worktop, he could feel the moisture in the young man’s eyes as he asked:

“Do you not find me sexy anymore?”

“Timmy, I…” _Of course, I do. You are the sexiest human being on Earth, and you drive me mad. I pinch myself every day because I can’t believe that you are mine._

”I haven’t received a triple R for weeks, Armie. Or any sex, for that matter…Do you still want me?”

Armie looked at him: redcurrant nipples, dark with arousal, legs apart, his tight ball sack and his perfect cock resting between the patterned lace tops of the stockings. Hitched breathing and lips parted in a timid expectation. _So willing to be taken. Needy. He looked both delicious and vulnerable. Too vulnerable. Too precious. How can I enjoy the pleasures of our love when something evil is lurking around and no one is this damn city is safe? How can I protect you from danger, my love, when I am not getting anywhere with this?_

“I want you…but not now, Timmy. I need some time.”

“I am ready to give you time, to help you. Just talk to me. Please. I love you and I need you. Don’t shut me down.”

Armie got up and stroked his curls. _You are so beautiful and lovely, but how can you help me, baby bird? I love you too, but love can’t fix everything, there are certain things that I need to sort out alone._ So he sighs and says quietly:

“I…am so stressed, Timmy…Let’s sleep.”

********* **

Armie looked over his shoulder, brushed off some non-existent specks of lint off his coat, cleared his throat and began crossing the road slowly. He had a feeling of uneasiness in his chest. It was an early evening and the arched windows of the posh building in front of him bathed in the gold reflections of the setting sun.

**The Heart of Themis, 117-135 Lexington Ave**, read the luxury business card in his hand.

“This, Hammer, could be your breakthrough.” his chief said in the late hours of the morning when he triumphantly entered his room and left the small piece of paper on his desk.

“A missing people charity. The registry says they settled in Lower Town about 6 months ago. Not much history but they are loaded, and I mean LOADED. Never organised a public event since registration but they are hosting this dinner tonight for the families of the missing. I want you to go and find out more.”

The Heart of Themis. _A rather unusual name for a charity, and even more unusual surroundings,_ he concluded as he entered the splendid building and was pointed to a heavily decorated hall where the majority of the people were already seated around marble tables with large flower centrepieces and posh canapes The light was dim but Armie could detect a stage draped in luxury gold curtains at the other end of the hall where two speakers were preparing to make an announcement. A statue of a lady wearing a blindfold and holding a balance stood behind them. Eyes. Wide. Shut. Beautiful young waiters and waitresses, also dressed in gold, walked among the tables with smiles plastered on their faces and Armie noticed that not a single one of them had any physical imperfections. Тhey were all young and attractive and had perfect bodies and sparkly teeth.

_Something’s off here!_ Armie sensed and reluctantly took the offered champagne flute. The whole set-up seemed unnervingly opulent, almost vulgar and felt more like a setting for a massive orgy.

“Our goddess Themis brought us all here today to remind us she is watching over us all.” said the first speaker. “And that we have all the answers that you need in your time of worry and grief about your loved ones…”

_A cult. Great! What an utter waste of my time. Why did I even bother?_

“You have come here today because in the last few months life has been cruel to you. We know you have asked yourselves many times: why him or her, why did this happen to our family. Could I have done anything to prevent it? Will I ever be able to live with this? We are here to give you solace. Your relatives and friends were only human and…”

_Utter bullshit. A cliched religious pitch. Preying on the vulnerable. What’s new? _

Armie stood up, determined to walk out and then he felt a firm hand oh his shoulder. One of the muscular young guys dressed in gold barked a short “Sit!” as the speaker continued:

“…we are actually here to tell you not to grieve. In the last 5 months, the ‘eyes’ of Themis have been all around the city. Public transport, restaurants, clubs, libraries, banks… Young, beautiful, smiling, alluring. They have talked to the missing, they have made passes at them, they have tested their decency. You don’t have to worry about them because they have proved themselves to be the scum of the earth…”

A collective gasp in the audience. _What the actual fuck? _

“You are here tonight to find out that you are disposable. Easily forgotten. Sold.”

The speaker was spitting the words out with sadistic satisfaction.

“Friends, they disclosed your dearest secrets for money or for attention. They laughed at your misfortune. Spouses, they dropped you at the first opportunity for a young piece of ass…”

The venue came alive with anger and disbelief. _Who were these people? _

“…But Themis sees everything. And the good news is that these traitors will not be coming back…as they can’t rise from the delicious coarse pâté and the succulent roast meat appetisers that you have eaten with gusto…”

Uncontrollable screaming overtook the hall. All Armie could see around him was blind panic and a sea of hysterical people. Some were vomiting and crying inconsolably. Rage and numb pain were etched on the faces of others who were trying to deal simultaneously with betrayal, shock and grief. A few fainted women were being stomped on by those who were trying to crawl to the doors, all firmly shut and locked since the speech started.

_Don’t panic, Hammer! Think! _

The second speaker came forward and his voice rose above the cries.

“Themis is just and merciful” he said as his face split into a wild, cruel smile. “And generous. And here is her special gift for you tonight.”

A third person appeared on stage, escorted by two others. He was slender and young, and his slow walk spelled defeat when the speaker asked him to come forward.

“See him? This guy is the most loyal (or the most stupid) person in your rotten city. We sent him a female ‘eye’ and he talked to her about travels and food recipes.”

The audience was almost quiet now, gripped by conflicting emotions and paralysing fear.

“He asked about her childhood pet, offered to walk her home as she appeared upset, and politely declined to date her. We sent him a male ‘eye’ and he said to him that he feels stupid for believing in everlasting love, but he will always do so, nonetheless. And that love is about talking, helping your partner, being there for them…”

Armie’s heart skipped a beat as the words hit too close to home…

“He asked our ‘eye’ what to do, how to keep the spark alive and what he needs to change so that his partner – the loser, who took him for granted, will start noticing him again…”

The young guy looked at the audience – it was the first time he lifted his head. The detective’s blood drained from his face when he looked closely and realised that the dark mop of curls and the hunched shoulders seemed eerily familiar.

_Timmy! God! Nooooooooooooooooo! _

“One decent human being lives among you and he wanted to change.” the speaker continued. “Here he is. And because Themis is generous, we have brought you here to TASTE true love. Are you ready? Do you want **a piece**? ”

The last thing Armie saw was the blade in the speaker’s hand seconds before it slashed Timmy’s throat. He collapsed on the floor as the frenzied, insane crowd around him scattered around the stage with their arms in the air. They weren’t humans anymore, just bloodthirsty animals ready to kill for a piece of meat…

*********

Armie’s t-shirt was soaking wet and his heart was beating like a drum as he woke up from his nightmare. _Timmy, his sweet little Timmy,_ was sleeping peacefully on his arm and drooling in his sleep. His eyes pooled with affection and tenderness as he placed a soft peck on his nose and kissed the corner of his dripping mouth.

Armie threw his arms around him and hugged him senseless while nuzzling the nape of his neck where he smelled of sleep, warmth and love.

_I love you! God, I love you! And I am going to show you how much every single day, I swear… Presents and treats and tripple Rs. _

Armie watched him for a while and listened to his regular, gentle breathing. Then for the first time in months he slept like a baby with his nose buried in the cascade of dark, soft hair.

He was still in the arms of Morpheus when the next morning came and Timmy quietly got up and looked at him. He didn’t hear when the young man sat on the edge of the bed and murmured quietly to himself:

“Whatever happened to us, my love? There were times when you were bringing me coffee in bed. I felt worshipped once, I believed that I was beautiful and special to you…”

Timmy got dressed and walked out as the autumn wind was playing with the leaves and picking up clouds of eye-watering dust.

He shivered and put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. Perhaps he should stop trying as Armie just doesn’t seem interested anymore.

"You need to be kinder to yourself, you deserve better, Timmy!” Philip said to him yesterday and he was probably right. Maybe I should let him take me out to lunch after all. He seems so attentive and genuinely interested in me...

The young man sighed and took the small card out of his pocket.

“Pop round any time! I work very long hours.” He held his hand a second longer on their parting. He was beautiful and…emotionally available. Timmy sighed and jumped in the taxi as he read the address aloud for the driver.

**The Heart of Themis, 117-135 Lexington Ave**

***********

**Author's Note:**

> My tired and overwhelmed brain gave me this dream the night after The King premiere in Venice...


End file.
